Dubbed the "Queen of La Conga", "Queen of Latin Rhythm" and "Latin Hurricane" during various stages of her career, Rivera, went on to enjoy a strong musical career both in the United States and in her native Puerto Rico.

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Rivera (birth name: Maria Heroina Rivera de Santiago[note 1]) was born in Fajardo, Puerto Rico. She was the youngest in a family of seven sons and five daughters. The de Santiagos moved to New York City when Rivera was a young child and it was there that she started a musical career. Studying dance and flamenco at an early age (6), she originally studied with Rita Hayworth's father, Eduardo Cansino. Rita herself gave Rivera a set of castanets as a gift.

Rivera put together her own show and performed it at the Latin Quarter (nightclub) and Havana-Madrid in New York. She was also a marquee name back in her homeland where she entertained at venues such as Zero's Nightclub and El San Juan Theatre. In the mid-1940s Rivera was signed by Azteca Studios in Mexico City. She acted for director Fernando Soler in both the film drama Me perigue una mujer (1947) with Jose Torvay and David Silva, and the comedy El Conquistador (1947), also starring Torvay and Enrique Herrera.

After her contract ended at Azteca, Rivera went on to sign a Hollywood contract with a Paramount Pictures, and made her American movie debut as lead singer and specialty performer in the Hope-Crosby-Lamour comedy The Road to Rio (1947). Rivera was selected (in a popularity poll by Mexican filmgoers themselves) to star in a Hollywood film biography of the late Mexican spitfire Lupe Vélez. The film was shelved when legal issues involving Ms.Vélez's estate arose.[3][4] She continued to work in "hot spots" such as the famous Ciro's nightclub with Desi Arnaz's band.

In 1948, Marquita Rivera was honored with the Key to the City of San Juan by Mayoress Felisa de Rincon, for her achievements on Broadway, Mexico, and in Hollywood. Today she is being honored with a huge event in Puerto Rico ...November 29, 30 and Dec 1. Marquita Rivera will be given some special honors: a proclamation given by the Senators and House of Representatives of Puerto Rico and then a separate Award by all the Mayors of Puerto Rico to commemorate her achievements as one of the first Latin/American actresses.[5] This was all made possible by Eugene Biscardi, a widely known photographer and one of The Latin Queen's sons.

Rivera was married to business tycoon Albert Vernon Ashbrook from 1946 to 1949 and had one child, Marquita, her namesake. In 1951, she married physician Eugene N. Biscardi II in New York City. They eventually became a family of seven children. Of their children, eldest son Eugene Biscardi III is a one-time model-turned-fashion photographer who has appeared occasionally as an actor on film and TV, and daughter Jessica Biscardi is a former model/actress and former "Miss New York".[6]

By the 1950s, Rivera had phased out her career in order to concentrate on raising her large family. In 1963, however, she made a special appearance at Carnegie Hall that featured an all-star lineup, including opera performers Thomas Hayward, Rina Telli, Dino Formichini and James Boxwill, led by Philharmonic conductor Warner S. Bass. She did not appear again publicly until 1977 when she returned to the stage in a limited engagement of her own off-Broadway revue, "The Marquita Rivera Show".[6]

In the 1980s her husband, Dr. Biscardi, retired and the couple relocated to Los Angeles where Rivera would occasionally make TV appearances, including "Sanford" with Redd Foxx. She also traveled frequently throughout the South on the beauty pageant circuit as a judge. Following the death of her husband in 1988, Rivera chose to retire completely from the limelight.[6]

On October 21 in 2002, Rivera died at Cedars-Sinai Hospital, Los Angeles, California after suffering a stroke. She is survived by her 7 children - daughters Marquita Press, Jessica Biscardi-Wolford and Lucrezia Silver, and sons Eugene Biscardi III, Louis Biscardi, Robert Biscardi and Joseph Biscardi, as well as 17 grandchildren and 1 great grandchild.[6]

Marquita is one of the legacies honored in Miluka Rivera's book “El legado puertorriqueño en Hollywood, los famosos y los olvidados” (The Puerto Rican Legacy in Hollywood, the Famous and the Forgotten) [7]

Marquita was the inspiration for the protagonist and is featured on the cover of the book "Mexico City The Golden Years" by author Dennis Fitter.